Andreas Feininger’s Stockholm

The early work of photographer Andreas Feininger, who joined Black Star after fleeing Sweden during World War II, will be showcased in an exhibit that begins Saturday, Sept. 15, and runs through Nov. 7 at New York’s Scandinavia House[2]. The exhibit features 51 of Feininger’s images of Stockholm, a city described in this way[3] by the photographer:

Stockholm is never dull. One encounters surprises everywhere — a beautiful view of the distant landscape, a romantic corner, or a little stretch of water reflecting the surrounding buildings, and added to all these charms there is the unique richness of colour which is Stockholm’s own … Of all the many beautiful cities I was privileged to know — Paris, London, Hamburg, Rome, Venice, Florence, San Francisco, Amsterdam, New York — from a photographer’s viewpoint, the most enchanting is Stockholm.

After leaving Stockholm to sign with Black Star at the age of 33, Feininger was introduced to Wilson Hicks, then photo editor of Life, who in 1941 hired him as a staff photographer — a role he filled for two decades[4]. Feininger went on to write more than 40 books on photographic technique and theory before passing away in 1999.